Monthly Archives: May 2013

Today my Dad would have been 88. Before I head to the cemetery to pay him a birthday visit, I thought I’d share a few brief words.

Although I haven’t been as mentally present in this year’s preparations for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, I am humbled and proud to see how people around the world are working on bringing awareness of accessibility to the builders, the people behind the technology we use today. Awareness is the first step and we have not fully taken this step yet. We have lots of work to do.

#GAAD would not exist today if not for the frustration of seeing my Dad try to deal with inaccessible banking sites. I was so happy he was able to attend the first Accessibility Camp LA. Although he enjoyed it a lot, in all honesty, that is where I first sensed something was up with him physically. What I didn’t know was that less than a mere four months later, he would be gone.

My friend Brian Sletten pointed me to the lyrics of a song by Laurie Anderson. “When my father died we put him in the ground. When my father died it was like a whole library Had burned down.” To be more accurate, it’s like ALL the libraries burned down.

My Father’s greatest regret at losing his father in the concentration camps, at what is now my age, is that my Grandfather never knew of the existence of the extragalactic universe.

From Google Glass, to 3D printers, to every new science story that comes out, I miss discussing it with my Dad. I wonder when the next massive discovery in the same magnitude of the extra galactic universe will come out. I have mixed emotions about discovering what’s next, because the joy was in sharing it with someone special.

It is hard to understand that my Dad is gone and now it’s all memories. I’m heartbroken. I really miss him. Happy Birthday Dad.